hands & knees red/scraped
jeans and T shirts multicolored
she was always immersed
sidewalks or murals or neglected chalkboards

she stole the spaces and made her statements

They're so brief...

(I protested, asking her to choose a different material)

she smiled a wry smile
shook her head and stooped again
and again
putting herself into the ground
planting herself there
except for the parts that rubbed off
and followed her home
not smudged, shared.


for longwinter, whose words always spin me around.